But the girl was mine first, sir."
Then Gayford interposed.
"Mr. Smugg," said he, "you tell Joe, here, that you'd marry this
lady. May I ask how you can--when----"
But for once Smugg was able to silence one of his pupils. He
arose from his seat, and brought his hand heavily down on
Gayford's shoulder.
"Hold your tongue!" he cried. "I must answer to God, but I
needn't answer to you."
Joe looked at him with round eyes, and, with a last salute,
slowly went out. None of us spoke, and presently Smugg opened
his Thucydides.
For my part, I took very considerable interest in Pyrrha's side
of the question. I amused myself by constructing a fancy-born
love of Pyrrha's for her social superior, and if he had been one
of ourselves, I should have seen no absurdity. But Smugg refused
altogether to fit into my frame. There was no glamour about
Smugg; and, to tell the truth, I should have thought that any
girl, be her station what it might, faced with the alternative of
Smugg and Joe, would have chosen Joe. In my opinion, Pyrrha was
merely amusing herself with Smugg, and I was rather comforted by
this reversal of the ordinary roles. Still, I could not
rest in conjecture, and my curiosity led me up to Dill's little
farm on the afternoon of the day of Joe's sudden appearance. The
others let me go alone. Directly after dinner Smugg went to his
bedroom, and the other three had gone off to play lawn tennis
at the vicar's.
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